Appetite For Democracy: Live At The Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas[Blu-ray] [3D Blu-ray]

You're thinking "GNR sucks cause Slash isn't in GNR anymore." 20 years later I don't even care. And really, if that's your biggest complaint about this DVD and/or Chinese Democracy, then why are you even looking at it!?Appetite for Democracy DVD shows up in the mail today. GNFNRS. I almost cried. Okay, I cried, so what, I'm a pansy. And I still buy DVD's. And CD's. I'm out of date. One of my friends told me that Led Zeppelin is the band that he judges all other bands by. Mine was Guns N' Roses. Today proves that it still is. When I hear a cover tune, is it as good as Guns' version of "knockin on heavens door" or "human being" or "black leather" ... is a band's second guitar player as cool as Izzy, do the 2 guitar players weave like Slash and Izzy. Is the band's debut as insane as AFD? Is their follow-up as epic as Illusion? Were their replacements as cool as Matt & Gilby, and Was their implosion as devastating to the world of rock as GNR's? Usually not. So whatever... GNR was THAT good, let's get on with the DVD.I put that disc in the DVD player. I don't own a blue ray. I turn on both sound systems, and I turn it up. I hit play, and the world just effed off for three hours. Dang. Guns N' Roses. Axl is bad. And by bad, I mean "he bad". Like sick or ill or the other words that are bad but then mean good in a slang sense. Dude, can you sing those songs? No, so shut up. Nobody else can.I had an ex-girlfriend go with me to see a GNR tribute band once, like 10 years ago, and I was stoked. They had wigs, it was lame, the drummer had the most un-sorum/adler hair I've ever seen. The duff didn't look much like duff. The izzy had a wig so cheap that it didn't look a thing like hair. Fake Slash looked and played good until his wig fell off. And the Axl did okay, but he didn't tear the place down like Axl in 87, or Axl in 92, or even Axl in 2002 or today, but still... half the time a tribute band's the closest thing you get to any band. I saw Velvet Revolver on the Contraband tour almost 10 years ago, and they were good, very good... but ... it lacked Axl and Izzy. "Axl's voice is blown out, it's gone." No it's not, he's not 25 or 30 anymore. Name one singer who sings at 50 like he used to. It's hard to do. Axl does great in this DVD.Speakin' of the band, Axl definitely knows how to pick `em. The 3 guitar players nail the "classic" tone. But still, as a band... Fortus, Ashba, and Ferrer are covered in goofy lookin tattoos like it makes them cool. It doesn't. You can't buy cool. Lame. The first dude to ever have sleeves was original and cool for it. Ozzy was cool cause his knuckles had his name, the first chick to ever get angel wings on her back or a tramp-stamp, they were original. Everyone after was a copy cat. Be cool for what you do. Fortus is cool cause he has a cool nose and he looks like a mix between Ron Wood and Izzy. That makes anyone look cool. Ferrer does well with both the Adler swing and the Sorum tom-fills, so he's cool. DJ Ashba tries to hard. "Hey look I look like Slash, no wait, I look like Nikki Sixx" ... lame. He was totally cool in Beautiful Creatures, now he's just a parody. Tommy Stinson was in the Replacements, so he doesn't need to prove anything. His bass tone is nothing like Duff's, but he's Tommy Stinson. He lives in no one's shadow. Face it. Bands like the Replacements influenced guys like Duff. Bumblefoot's got a cool Rick Nielsen braided beard thingy. And he plays his own guitars, not "what Slash played for the sake of playing like Slash". That's what makes him cool. Chris Pitman? Do we really need two "keyboardists/percussionists"... I don't know what he adds, I'm sure it's gotta be something, but I personally don't see it. 3 guitar players seems a bit weird, cause they only need 2.I miss Izzy is about all I could think of that was wrong with this DVD. That, and I need a bigger TV. 32 inches doesn't rock hard enough for this one. Izzy really added something to the band. Duff was cool, hell all the guys were cool, but Izzy wrote all the songs and had the Johnny Thunders swagger.The DVD is well shot, well mixed, well edited, top notch. The set list is great. I know the opener is a newer song and therefore "inferior" in the eyes of old-school GNR fans, but it's a solid tune and set opener. The band hits those first few tunes like a freight train (or night train?!). The band solos are mediocre to acceptable, but not a highlight. Don't Cry has always been one of my favorite GNR tunes, and the two covers were cool to see. The interviews are okay, but only with 4 members of a 8-member band. That's half. I ordered this DVD assuming it'd be a solid 3-star effort, and was pleasantly surprised by how a year-and-a-half old show by my "old" favorite band, featuring all "new" members ... could both make me feel like a kid again (the nostalgia) and hopeful for the future (the band is tight, and let's face it... the old lineup isn't gonna magically put itself back together). I can't only give it four stars, it's very good... it's amazing.Ever since Axl's "new" GNR started performing in 2001, I've hoped for a live album or video. With dudes like Tommy and Dizzy ... and even NIN's Robin Finck, Primus' Bryan Mantia, and Josh Freese having been in the band, it couldn't have been all bad. I mean, I have "Live Era" CD and the Tokyo 92 DVD's ... and a VHS of their Rio 91 show and a dvd transfer or a vhs of the MTV New York 88 show, all of which I'd treasured as a GNR fan, and the original dudes were amazing, but here it is. I am unspeakably surprised this DVD was ever even released. Thank you Axl. Thank you. I had low expectations, and it blew me away.*review is for DVD version, I did not buy the 3D version.

Awesome concert. I'm not even a huge GNR fan (I I go way back to the NWOBHM days with Priest, Maiden, Tank, Raven, UFO, Thin Lizzy Etc... ) when GNR came out in the late 80's I sneered at their style of play (along with LA Guns, etc..) and gravitated to the more melodic and dark metal like Sabbath, Dio and the aforementioned bands. That said, being a musician and loving music in general, I always had them in my rotation of CD's and appreciated the raw energy and skills that AXL and the boys created..... Being a guitar player, Slash hooked me from the get go. So, was I skeptical when he left GNR? You better believe it.In fact, I haven't paid much attention to these guys (both the AXL side and the Slash side) since Use Your Illusion.I was simply looking for a cool 3D concert Blu Ray to use on my 3D big screen that's collecting dust. I bought my TV for the PQ and the 3D was an extra feature that was simply included with the TV.... When I saw this was coming out I simply took a chance and purchased. The package arrived in 2 days in perfect size package and was flawless as would be expected with a brand new DVD. I popped it in the player and cranked my theater system up not really thinking much about it other than I was hoping for a good quality sound and an interesting 3D experience. Wow! What a great quality production... The sound is clear and well balanced with each musicians instruments sound levels nicely leveled and crisp. The PQ is perfect and colors vivid and true (with a tendency toward blue hues - for effect I would think). Most importantly, the camera work is very well done. One thing that I have noticed in today's day and age with music DVDs of live performances is that there seems to be this propensity to produce everything with a fast pace. By fast pace I mean the camera work on many dvd's switches frames way too fast and way to often, never seeming to stay focused on any one object longer than 2 seconds. Maybe I am in the minority here, but I can't stand it. I like to actually watch the musician play his instrument. It's part of why I buy the live DVD. If I wanted to see a fast action music video I would put on VH1 classic or whatever... So I was really happy to have a concert video that at least put a little effort into slowing things down so I could actually see the chords Bumblefoot plays or the fact that AXL really is lip syncing.. Lol. That said, their is a pretty fair share of "doctoring" up the sound track (which I believe is going to happen on 99.8 percent of live dvd's) as you can clearly see in several sections of the video that his voice isn't matching the mouth. Don't get me wrong, he sounds surprisingly good at this stage of the game and this is evidenced many times throughout in areas that don't seem to be over dubbed. Overall, the band that he put around him is extremely talented.. dare I say more talented than the original line up!? I would say most likely. Again,I love Slash, but this is clearly AXL's band and he really hasn't lost much without Slash. I mean this from a performance stand point ... From a creativity or songwriting standpoint is a whole different debate.Oh, and not to forget the 3D, it's pretty cool and not too overpowering. And I am fine with that because it reminded me that at the end of the day the 3D is more a gimmick to me and the music performance is what I really care for!I rank this as a solid investment for ANYONES blu ray collection. . . .Purchase it with confidence.

Nice to get a Guns and Roses product with todays level of sound and picture quality. Obviously it is very different to the former Illusion offerings from back in the day. As a band, there`s always something not quite the same without Slash, Duff and Izzy, but it`s nice to see Axl back on stage at last. November Rain is still as magical as ever, and it`s a welcome change to hear some `Chinese Democracy` played live for once! Don`t expect it to be like the Illusion tour, when he was much younger, but overall, I think the set was well crafted, and delivered to befit the age of Mr Rose. It undoubtedly stirs the memories for those of us who saw the original team, and there will always be that something which you just can`t put into words! The forthcoming reunion has certainly whet the appetite for Guns and Roses, see what 2017 brings.

One of my all time favourite bands in their first live concert video since the early '90s! Say what you like about Axl, say what you like about THIS incarnation of the band, it's STILL Guns n Roses! The truth is, this version of the band have been together longer than the 'classic' line up, and it shows. Ok...Axl might not be able to hit all the right notes....but who cares? It's Axl Rose!!I was lucky enough to see the band live in Glasgow the same year this was filmed, so for me, it's a great reminder of that night!As for the blu ray itself, audio and visual quality is great. I can't comment on the 3D version....I HATE 3D! A nice surprise was that it came with 2 CDs, which I wasn't expecting with this copy!If you're a fan of the band, you won't be disappointed! And with all the rumours regarding a reunion of the original band...now's the time to get this!

A fantastic concert but spoiled here by poor sound quality of the disc.One track is so bad its unlistenable but the real annoyance is the picture and sound are out of step. 5 star for the concert and 1 star for the disc so 3 stars at the best overall.

A rare 3D music video of a rock band. Slash is replaced by DJ Ashba in this line up but he is similar in appearance and also plays a Gibson Les Paul guitar. I wasn't a big fan of this group but got this for the 3D but I was impressed by this performance and went on to buy the use your illusion 1 and 2 DVDs (which are from the earlier days and lack the sound and picture quality of this 3D Blu-ray). For fans of GnR this is probably the best recording you can buy. Hence I give it 5 stars.

Not bad but not the greatest. 3d is pretty decent and better than on some blue ray films. Set list is good, as is the musicianship. It is Axl that loses 1 star for me. He seems seperate and not engaged with the others and obviously age and weight has slowed down his movement, he cannot charge around anymore and seems out of puff at times.